HOMILY: Rejoice in the Lord!

HOMILY: Rejoice in the Lord! – December 29th, 2019

Readings: Philippians 4:4-7, John 1:19-28

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; one God. Amen.

As we come to the end of another calendar year, we approach this time with words of thanksgiving for all that we have and have endured, and also of expectation as we rejoice for what is yet to come. We look at the past twelve months and we realize that most of us have much to be thankful for: we rejoice for our successes and triumphs; we rejoice for our health and wellbeing; we rejoice for our family and friends; and we rejoice that Christ is in our midst, where He is and ever shall be. For all these things we give thanksgiving and praise, prayer and supplication always, for we remember that all things come from the Father.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”

These are the words of Saint Paul in our Epistle reading this morning, and regrettably we recognize that it is not always easy to rejoice, for not all moments seem pleasant to those that endure them; to those that endure loss; to those that endure suffering; to those that endure heartache and hardship; to those that endure the darkness because it seems as though the light has left them. Yet, even in times such as these we can find reasons to rejoice; for, in our sufferings we find strength; in our pain we find the power to endure; in the loss of all things we are freed from the world; in the loss of life we rejoice in hope, and look for an age yet to come. No matter the darkness and how cold it may seem, we hold onto the light of Christ, for the Light will dispel the darkness, or make longer the shadows and reveal the objects within our lives causing them.

Saint John Chrysostom also says similarly in his own Homily on the letter to the Philippians:

“It is comforting to know that the Lord is at hand…Here is a medicine to relieve grief and every bad circumstance and every pain. What is it? To pray and to give thanks in everything. He does not wish that a prayer be merely a petition but a thanksgiving for what we have received…How can one make petitions for the future without a thankful acknowledgment of past things?…So one ought to give thanks for everything, even what seems grievous. That is the mark of one who is truly thankful. Grief comes out of the circumstances with their demands. Thanksgiving comes from a soul that has true insight and a strong affection for God.”

We rejoice because He is with us, and we have much to be thankful for. We look forward to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we rejoice, because he is our Lord God, and King. Then, we look forward to and celebrate theophany, the revelation of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – on the waters of the Jordan, and rejoice because He is all merciful and compassionate toward His Children. We endure the somber period of the Lenten season, and we rejoice because He is Risen, having endured His crucifixion upon a cross, dying that we may live. He ascended that the Holy Spirit might descend, and we rejoice that we were worthy to be recipients of God’s grace. We endure the darkness of this world, just as the many saints who have gone before us, but we rejoice in the resurrection yet to come; we rejoice in God’s love and our healing of soul and body, the salvation of many, and the forgiveness of all.

We give praise and thanksgiving for the days that have come to pass, and look forward with joyful expectation at what is yet to come. Paul tells us not to be anxious about anything,“but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” We pray with thanksgiving, and we give voice to our thoughts, making them a tangible thing, making them real; for, even all of creation was spoken into existence. So, we say our prayers, say our confessions, say our creeds, that all these things may become real within us; that they may manifest themselves in our lives. Yet, this is only but a single reason why our prayers matter, not only to ourselves, but to the very world in which we live.

Our prayer is an encounter and relationship with God. It is through prayer that we anchor ourselves to the present moment, for indeed it is the only moment in which we can encounter God. Yes, we look back with thanksgiving on the past, and we look forward to the future with hopeful and joyful expectation, but it is only the present moment that matters to us. God is present to us at all times and in all places. He is present simultaneously in the past, present, and future, but it is only in the present moment in which we live, exist, and experience this life. Christ himself exhorts us in the Gospel of Matthew to “not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own,” and there is little we can do about the past, so we pray always, offering up the present moment to God, so that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Tomorrow may remain a mystery, but today is a gift from God, and I jokingly say that this is why it is called the present.

It is only in the present moment that we can be still and know that He is God; but, the world provides no such peace. Far too often the world lives in a distracted state of mind, and with many, their focus of attention is divided between their mobile devices, tablets, and cell phones instead of the people and places around them in the present moment. People would rather interact through an artificial glass wall, numbing any sense of true relationship and warmth we would experience with others. We are often distracted by the advertisements and sales pitches of the world around us, telling us how the world should look – billboards, magazine racks, television commercials, radio commercials, gossip and opinion, and so forth – driving us to focus on that which we should have, instead of what we have right now. Our attention is scattered on a vision of how the world tells us things should be, instead of how the world really is. Our mind is often divided between our past and future concerns, but rarely on the importance of the present moment. Because of this, many people have no joy, cannot rejoice or be joyful, because this can only happen within our present moment. Prayer and thanksgiving can only happen where we are.

We are often so focused on doing, that we leave little time for the act of being, being Children of God, being Saints, being perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. Though, one should not consider the act of doing, and the act of being, to be two separate things. For, we have been exhorted to pray without ceasing, but this is not always an act of words. We become our prayer within our day to day lives; we incarnate Christ into the world; and we become that which we pray for, that for others and ourselves.

Prayer is the beginning of all theology, as Vladimir Lossky says. Prayer alone will give our soul the spiritual strength to endure all things. So, without prayer, there is no spiritual life alive within us. Our faith, our prayer, should become a state of being – it is not enough to say prayers, but we must become our prayer, become a Christian, and incarnate our faith by word AND deed. Our prayer life should be lived, and our prayers should be interwoven with our life, otherwise they become vestigial words and phrases that we simply offer in our short periods we turn towards God. Our prayers and our actions should become two expressions of the same situation. Also, we must approach our prayer life as a mutual relationship of friendship. God must be the object of our prayer, our wanting, for the intensity and elation of our prayer is often about the object of our prayer rather than the one to whom our prayer is addressed.

“All of life, each and every act, every gesture, even the smile of the human face, must become a hymn of adoration, an offering, a prayer. One should offer not what one has, but what one is.” (Bishop Kallistos Ware)

This is the gift we give: our lives. We do this because it is the only gift we can give which is reciprocal of itself, given in response to the gift which we have received ourselves: eternal life. It is for this gift, and many other reasons we are exhorted not once, but twice by the Apostle Paul in the same passage to rejoice; to be thankful for everything in prayer and thanksgiving. So let us become joy; let us all become Joy to the world because Christ our King has come, and is coming. It is a beautiful day our Lord God has made, so let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Through the prayers of our holy fathers and mothers, and Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.

Amen

Virgin Mary “Rejoices in Thee” (All Creation Rejoice), Orthodox Icon

HOMILY: Christ the King

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HOMILY: Christ the King – December 8, 2019

Readings: Daniel: 7:13-14, Colassians 1:12-20, John 18:33-37

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

We have come to the end of our liturgical year, through the course of which we have celebrated the birth of Christ, and the joy and salvation that his coming promises to bring. We have celebrated the theophanies of Christ our God, wherein the truth of God has been revealed to us. We have remembered the passion of Christ and repented of our own iniquities through the penitential season of Lent. We have celebrated Christ and the lives of the saints surrounding Him and following Him, that we may remember their lives and examples for each of us to follow. We once and always look forward with expectation from the moment of Christ’s birth, from the moment of our present lives lived in Christ, to the coming of Christ our King and our God. He entered the world as a suckling child, from the womb into the care of the Theotokos; became the sacrifice for all men that the whole world might be redeemed; and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. He shall come again as a conquering king, who conquered death by death; who is the King of Kings; who is the Lord of all creation; He who is the head of the body, the Church, which is His Kingdom on earth. Within the Church, which Christ created with his own precious blood, we find the Truth, the Way, and the life. This is the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is life within him, and it is this Kingdom to which we all belong as citizens of heaven, for as Saint Paul says, “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,” our King and our God. He also elucidates the kingdom of God as life in the Holy Spirit, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” So, we recognize the Kingdom as that which is already given to those of us who believe; to those of us who live and lead righteous lives under God our King; to those of us who incarnate the Kingdom of God into this world, and by whom this kingdom is created by the grace of God. We are Christ’s first and foremost, and if the first “flag” we fly is not Christ’s, then one must ask if He is truly our King and our God? The flag of nations should never precede the flag of faith. The flag of this world is not our own, for we are citizens of heaven first and only; for, we are but “sojourners and exiles in this world,” and should live as though we have no permanent part in it. For there is nothing in this world that is worth our lives in Christ; nothing in this world that can give us true joy; and nothing in this world that will endure in this life or the next.

Christ is our King, and the Kingdom over which he reigns has no place, it has no borders and holds no land; it has no end and begins in all places; it excludes no one, but includes only the faithful. We know where the kingdom rests by the fruits of its people, for Christ himself has said the people “will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This is also the same quality by which we know Christ loved us, for he sacrificed himself that we may live life eternally. So then, what is a Christian life without sacrifice, but an empty and vestigial expression of a divine truth. True love engenders sacrifice, a sacrifice of self; of free will. It is through the sacrificial quality of love by which it is recognized. It is within the sacrificial quality of love that the Kingdom of God is found, for God is Love. It is with Love that Christ reigns as King over all creation.

Christ as King permeates our prayers; is echoed throughout our scriptures; is made manifest within the liturgy and sacramental life of the Church; so, likewise it should be made apparent that Christ is our King in our day to day lives. The culture in which we live reflects the contents of our inner being. If our culture is not changed, it is because we ourselves are not changed. This is why Saint Seraphim of Sarov exhorted that if we “acquire the Spirit of Peace, a thousand souls around you will be saved.” So, it is within society that we will express the contents of our heart in word and in deed, wherein society becomes a mirror of what lies within. It is where the Kingdom of God collides with the kingdom of this world that Christ’s love should manifest itself. How do we treat the homeless man or the mother in need? How do we react to the myriad inconveniences throughout the day? How do we respond to those who are less than pleasant towards us or others? How do we speak to those who are seen as social outcasts: addicts, criminals, prostitutes, the poor and needy, the disabled, and all of the others who do not align with the image of worldly success? We have already been given the answers to these questions by Christ our King, and he pulls us inexorably towards love.

Christ as King reigns over our very souls. It is by his grace alone that we are pulled godward; that every word we speak is one of praise or kindness; that every beat of our heart and every breath we take is done with thanksgiving; that our everyday and ordinary deeds are made extraordinary by their love and compassion for one another; that our own feelings and desires should be an echo of Christ the King, and that which His love desires. Our will is not our own, but that of the King who reigns over all: Jesus Christ our Lord. We can be slaves to the sins of this world, or freedman following their King and their God.

Christ our King has freed us from the bondage and slavery of sin, the passions that compel us to do that which we ought not to do. He commanded us to repent, and so we turn ourselves away from this world. He commanded us to baptize and be baptized, and so the faithful are made clean, “made whiter than snow.” He commanded us to “do this in remembrance of me;” so, we celebrate and partake of his body and blood as often as we can through the Eucharist. We are commanded to “be perfect,” just as the Father is perfect; a feat that can only be accomplished through theosis: our growth and exercise of virtue, and our cooperation with the graces of God. Among these commands, and others like it, Christ tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Our Love for Him is known and is proven by what we do. Our love of God is made manifest by our willingness to obey him, and to serve him, and also those in his kingdom. Christ came to serve, so we also serve. Christ came to heal, so let us be a healing presence to all. Christ came to forgive, so let us forgive one another. Christ came to reign over us, so let us always allow Him to reign in us.

Christ is King, and He is a just king, for the Justice of God is the restoration of all creation as God intended it from the beginning of time. Christ is a righteous king for He is righteousness. Christ is a conquering king, for he has conquered and defeated death by death, and in doing so “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins,” just as Saint Paul exhorted in our epistle reading for today. Christ is our King, and in Him we have faith and find hope, for “to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed,” just as Daniel prophesied. Christ is our King, and Christ is our God, for in Christ alone was the fullness of God pleased to dwell among us. So, We look forward to the completion and perfection of all things in and through Christ the King, the ruler and redeemer of all things. We adore the King of Kings as we bask in the countenance of his holiness and eternal glory, and pray always that we ourselves would be found worthy of the promises of Christ. Christ is the King of mercy, and may he have mercy on us all, and save us.

“Oh come let us worship and fall down before our God and our King.

Oh, come let us fall down before Christ our King and our God.

Oh, come let us worship and fall down before Christ himself, our King and our God.”

Amen.

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Homily: Of Truth and gifts.

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Homily: Of Truth and gifts – November 9th, 2019

Readings: Epistle – Ephesians 4:7-13, Gospel – John 15:17-25

Today we remember and celebrate the Greater feast of Saints Simon and Jude. Two of the twelve apostles, their names mentioned in the synoptic gospels, and Saint Luke’s Acts of the Apostles. Yet, outside of these mentions in scripture, we know very little about them or their works following Pentecost. Even those extra biblical sources we have seem to disagree somewhat on their lives, and how they ended. Western tradition and martyrology dating from the sixth century holds that Saint Simon first preached in Egypt, and later joined Saint Jude to preach the gospel in Persia, where they both suffered martyrdom. On the other hand, The Monology of Saint Basil the Great tells us that Simon died a peaceful death at Edessa. Yet, no matter where they went, no matter the means by which they went to the Lord, we remember them nonetheless, because we are the Church. Disregarding all else about them, we know with certainty that they are counted among those – the Apostles of Christ – who constitutes the foundation of our Church, for indeed the Church was built upon the foundation of her prophets and Apostles. They hold up the Church, which itself exists as the pillar and foundation of truth, as well as being the body of Christ, who is Truth. It is only within this body, the Church, that the Truth is received, and so given to others “ to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” just as Saint Paul exhorts us in our Epistle reading for today.

It is to this body that is given the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Christ ascended that the Holy Spirit might descend and endow us with those gifts necessary to the building up of the Church in the fullness of Christ. We all possess those gifts of God’s grace common to all, as Saint John Chrysostom highlights in his own homilies on the letter to the Ephesians: “baptism, salvation by faith, having God as Father and partaking of the same Spirit.” We also possess diverse spiritual gifts in varying degrees; though, one must not allow one’s self to descend into arrogance at what they themselves possess, nor must one look at another’s gifts and fall into despondency that they have not been so gifted. It is against this which Saint Paul fought in his letters to both the Ephesians and the Corinthians, and why he used the analogy of the Church as one body consisting of many members elsewhere in scripture. This is why Saint Paul did not say “to each one of us according to the measure of their faith,” lest one should fall into arrogance or pride. But this is also why Saint John Chrysostom also says “If someone has more in grace, feel no resentment, for his task is greater too.” For, if those who have been given do nothing with what they have received, they are just like the man who received the one talent, and buried it in the earth.

The Church is one in her essence; her essence of faith; her essence of spirit and the teaching received therein; but, she is diverse in both gifts and function. Despite what the world may try to force us to believe, unity does not mean uniformity; equality does not mean sameness. The Church is diversity in operation, not a diversity of faith nor truth, but of people. We are all living stones, just as Saint Peter exhorts, altogether comprising the Church. Look at the walls of any Church, the grain of the wood, the variations in stone, and no two are alike. Likewise, we are each unique in person, yet we all strive towards the same fullness of our humanity. It is towards this fullness of Christ that we are “guided by gifted people for the sake of maturity and stability of the body.” We are all living stones, and Christ is the cornerstone of the foundation upon which we stand, and the living mortar that binds us all together.

What Christ has given is a gift of immense price. This is why, Christ being both the Gift and the price paid for it, that our own lives are the only gift that is reciprocal of itself. I say of itself, for our very lives are a gift bestowed to us, saved from eternal death, healed from the wounds of sin that we might live fully. Every aspect of our Christian faith, every detail of our Christian life, is intertwined with that great gift to which we have been given. Christ is the great physician, the healer of our souls, and we follow those prescriptions He has given us through the Church: Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Christ is the great medicine and food for our souls, that which we receive by the cup of salvation at the Holy Mysteries of our faith. Christ is the way, the Truth, and the life by which we find our way through the darkness of this world.

What Christ has given us is without distinction from Christ himself, and such are the gifts of the spirit we have received. Those gifts are given to each of us according to that which we need; it is given according to that which we desire; it is given according to that which we are capable of possessing by a measure distinctive to our love and character. We each possess a distinctiveness of spirit, a distinctiveness of person or character, a distinctiveness of individuality, but a unity of persons in one faith. This distinctiveness, the difference of persons does not place anyone above or below another, for we are all necessary. Just as the wall is weaker with stones removed, and a chain cannot hold with missing link, so is the Church when lacking unity, or missing those who belong. The Church grows stronger as each is added to it, according to their own faith, according to their own gifts, and the building up of one another.

There is a saying within the Orthodox Church that we grow and we rise together, but we fall alone. As such, no Christian should ever regard themselves as an isolated individual, for we are all part of the body of Christ. It is not only by our gifts that we labor to build and encourage the Church towards the fullness of Christ, but also our participation in the sacraments, and the sacramental rhythm of the Church. When we sin, we sin not against ourselves only, but against all those who stand with us. We go to confession that we may be absolved, that our sin does not erode the unity and stability of that body. We participate in the same cup, that we all may receive the eternal remedy; so that no one withers in spirit. We all practice those spiritual exercises – prayer, fasting, and almsgiving – that each of us may grow strong in our own faith, supporting one another as we march together towards the eschaton. We remember our dead, as we remember Saints Simon and Jude. Their souls are separated from their bodies, but we remain in communion with them and all others, for even in death the body of Christ is not divided. We remember one another, praying for one another always and in all things. We all study the same scriptures, adhering to the same teachings of the faith; for the unity of the faith cannot be separated from the knowledge of the Son of God.

The Truth, the knowledge of the Son of God, is the seed planted in each of us, and simultaneously the seed we have been given to plant in others. Those gifts of the spirit are the tools we have been given to work those fields once planted. We must not neglect the tools we have been given, for while iron may sharpen iron, it rusts when left in disuse. We must not neglect the labor at hand, for as Christ himself has said, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. The gift of Christ was purchased for us at an immeasurable price. So, let us live worthily of such a sacrifice, that it be not in vain, and we be considered sons and daughters of the living God. May all truth abide in us and save us.

By the prayers of our holy Fathers and Mothers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.

Amen.

HOMILY: Becoming Truth.

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HOMILY: Becoming Truth – October 20th, 2019.

Readings: Matthew 9:1-9

I would like to begin with the story of Sergios and Bakkhos, two martyrs of the Church whom we remember today.

The Holy Martyrs Sergios and Bakkhos were appointed to high positions in the army by the emperor Maximian (who ruled from the years 284-305), who did not know that they were Christians. Malevolent persons denounced them both to Maximian, that his two military-commanders did not honour the pagan gods, and this was considered a crime against the state.

The emperor, wanting to convince himself of the veracity of the denunciation, ordered Sergios and Bakkhos to offer sacrifice to the idols, but they answered, that they honored but the One God and Him only did they worship.

Maximian commanded that the martyrs be stripped of the insignia of military rank, and then having dressed them in feminine clothing to lead them through the city with an iron chain on the neck, for the mockery by the people. Then he again summoned Sergios and Bakkhos to him and in a friendly approach advised them not to be swayed by Christian fables and instead return to the Roman gods. But the saints remained steadfast. Then the emperor commanded that they be dispatched to the governor of the eastern part of Syria, Antiochus, a fierce hater of Christians. Antiochus had received his position with the help of Sergios and Bakkhos. “My fathers and benefactors! – he addressed the saints, – have pity not only upon yourself, but also on me: I do not want to condemn you to martyrdom”. The holy martyrs replied, that for them life – is Christ, and death for Him – its acquisition. In a rage Antiochus ordered Bakkhos to be mercilessly beaten, and the holy martyr expired to the Lord. They put iron shoes on Sergios feet inset with nails and sent him off to another city, where he was beheaded with the sword. All this transpired in the year 300 A.D.

So, why do we remember such as these in the life of the Church?

We are the Church of remembering. We remember those who have gone before us, for they point us towards Christ; they show us what it means to be our faith; they show us how we should respond to the world around us. We remember those who walk beside us. We remember what lies ahead of us as we walk together in Christ towards the eschaton. The Church takes great care to maintain the hagiography of our saints, the stories of those who have passed into memory, for they represent the living witness of our faith. They represent the very essence in both word and in deed in what it means to be Christian. They have gone before us, but they march ever ahead of us, for they have paved the road we now walk on. It is yet another paradox of the Christian faith, like the first shall be last and the last shall be first, when I am weak, I am strong; or the meek shall inherit the earth. Those who have come before us, walk ahead of us, living icons of Christ, lamps unto our feet.

So what is the lesson we can learn from the story of Sergios and Bakkhos, those knights and martyrs of the Orthodox faith? Always speak truth to power. We must not be like the world who seeks to change the very definitions of truth within the world around us. Who changes truth simply to be acceptable to others. We must not be like the world who seeks to confuse and disorient, shifting like sand so no foundation can be laid for one to stand on, till one is left standing like Pilate before Christ and muttering those words of searching: what is truth? We know what truth is. Truth is a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. Truth is found in the Church, for the Church is the Body of Christ, who IS Truth. The Church is the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Tim 3:15), which was established upon the apostles and prophets as her foundation (Eph 2:20). We must never be afraid to speak Christ into the world, into the face of opposition, nor persecution. We must always stand to speak Truth in the face of lies, Truth against heresies, or Truth to those in power. Truth is the last great rebellion in a world imbued with falsity and fantasy. The world may threaten our lives, but we have life eternal. The world may take away our wealth, but it was never ours to begin with, and we have even greater treasures in the kingdom of God. The world might not kill us, but it will wound us. We will be wounded time and time again in both heart, mind, soul, and God forbid in body.

Lucky for us Christ is the Great Physician. The Church, as the body of Christ, who is the great physician, is the great hospital for our very souls. To the world we may seem like an asylum of sorts, and some very well may treat us as such. Remember the words of Saint Anthony the Great when he said “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, “You are mad; you are not like us.” One could reasonably say such a time is upon us. Yet, also remember the words of scripture that tells us that truth, Christ, and the message of the Cross seems like insanity to the world, but to those of us who are being saved, it is the power of God. To those of us who are being saved, it is the word of life. To those of use who are being saved, no other word matters.

Can we expect a blind man to know the sky is blue? Can we expect the deaf man to hear the words of truth? Can we expect one dying of cancer to know that he is dying, or what it is that afflicts him, unless a doctor tells him? We must be the truth to those who need it, in our words and in our lives. We become truth and take Christ into the world. We reveal their illness, talk about their wounds, and reveal the scars of our own wounds to give them hope. We seek out those in need of healing, and bring them to the great physician to be healed. The Church is the great hospital for our souls, and all are bidden. Yet, not all may come. Some cannot come on their own. Some may need the helping hands of another.

In our Gospel reading today we heard the tale of Jesus healing the paralytic. As soon as he had left his boat, and arrived into his own town, two men carried a parlyzed man to him, lying on a mat. This was a man that depended on others to be brought before Christ. When Christ set his eyes upon them, he saw not the faith of the paralyzed man, but the faith of those who brought him. It was by their faith that Jesus Christ healed the paralytic. And so he arose, healed of his infirmities of both body and soul, and carried himself back to his home.

The Church is our home. We who have been healed are the two men carrying the paralytic. Some of us, at one time, used to be the paralytic. Maybe some of us still are. Yet, we should be carrying others back to the Church in the fullness of our own faith, so that the other may be healed; that the other may find their own faith, and walk home to the Church on their own. One day, they too shall carry another back to the great Physician, for the healing of soul and body. For we are the Church, and we stand together. We are one body, brought together in one cup, one loaf, and one and the same belief and teaching. We fall alone.

Christ tells us that where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am with them. Sergios and Bakkhos stood together against the world, and Christ was with them both. Those two men stood with the paralytic, for the paralytic, and Christ was with them also. May we stand with one another always, to face the world in all that it shall bring. So, may we now stand together in one faith and one accord, for Christ is in our midst; he is and ever shall be.

Amen

Image result for Sergios and Bakkhos — Saints Sergios and Bakkhos.

Homily: Be opened.

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Homily: Be opened. – September 1, 2019

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One God. Amen

I would like to open with a reading from the Old Testament today. It is not one we have heard read today, but it is wholly relevant to what we have heard so far, and what I have to say.

From Isaiah chapter 35, beginning at verse 3:
3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

The whole of the Old Testament points towards forwards towards the messianic promise, points forwards towards Christ, but this particular verse is a direct prophecy of Christ which we hear partially fulfilled in our Gospel reading for today (Mark 7:31-37). In this reading we hear of the man who was deaf and dumb, as they say, who was brought to Christ by others to be healed. Christ pulled him to the side, stuck his fingers in his ears, spitting on his finger and touching the man’s tongue, he looked to the heavens and said one of the few obscure Aramaic words we hear in the Gospels: Ephphatha.

This word means to be opened. In the Greek, which is given along side the Aramaic, the word is dianoigō (διανοίγω), which specifically in this case means to be opened, but more generally used it refers to an opening of the heart; an opening of the mind and the understanding; to open one’s self to the sense of a thing. Yet, why did Christ find it necessary to speak this word as part of this act of healing? Could He not have just healed the man through the spirit? Could He not have just willed his healing into existence? Of course the answer is yes, but he does this because words have power. Words have the power to heal, and the power to destroy. Words have the power to build up and encourage, as well as tear down. Words are important. In fact, in the chapter preceding our Epistle reading for today, Saint Paul speaks at length about the gift of speaking in tongues and prophesying. What we say matters.

The Son of God spoke all of creation into existence, for indeed He is the Word of God. Christ drove out evil spirits with but a word. Saint James warns us of the dangers of the tongue and the words we speak, with Christ corroborating this in the Gospel of Matthew by warning us that “those things which proceed out of the mouth comes from the heart,” and these are what defile a man. Those that came to Christ in His ministry – the man with leprosy, the Centurion, the paralytic, and others – when asked what they needed, though God knew regardless of the request, they spoke their needs to Christ that they may be heard and met likewise. We pray so that our needs might be heard, rising before the saints and the throne of God like incense that they might be heard (Psalm 141:2, Revelations 8:4) Even Saint John of Kronstadt places an importance upon the words we speak into this world, exhorting that “man, in all his words, does not die. He is immortal in them, and they speak after his death.” So, if we should be judged by that which we say, then surely we should be mindful of that which we say, and what manner of words we bring into the world. Do we speak slander, or do we speak praise? Do we speak Truth, or babble on endlessly about the things of this world. Be mindful.

Christ spoke words of healing, because He is the Great Physician. Christ spoke words of Truth, because he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Christ calls each of us to be opened, so that we can be healed of our spiritual deafness, so that we may receive the Truth. The healing of the deaf man is a metaphor for all men. It can be taken as an analogy of the Christian life, speaking of those outside the Church in the wilderness (of the world) alluded to in Isaiah chapter 35.

As those few of you who have attended my classes may have learned by now, I filter my theological viewpoint and my entire basis of understanding the Truth through the understanding of the Church, for the Church is the pillar and foundation of Truth (1 Tim 3:15). So, with that being said, the deaf man is every man standing outside the Church. He cannot receive the Truth. He cannot speak the truth because he does not know it. But, Christ calls each of us to be opened, but it is not an opening that can be forced. He wills each of us to be opened to the Truth, but we must first turn towards Christ, and do so by our own volition. All are called, but not all respond. Christ came for all mankind, but not all will receive Him. Christ speaks, but not all hear his words. He meets everyone where they are in life, but not all will experience Him. So, how can a blind man see the sun? He cannot see it, but he can feel it. How can a deaf man hear the words of truth? He cannot hear it, but he can see it, or experience it. The Truth must be incarnated into the world, becoming all things to all people, so that all spiritual infirmities may be overcome for the receiving of the Truth. We must bring the Truth to all men, so that man may know and accept it; turning towards Christ; turning towards the Church; turning towards the Great Physician and the Hospital for our souls, so that we may be healed of our spiritual infirmities..

Most of us started in the world, living for the world. We encountered the Truth and accepted it, turning towards Christ, and subsequently the Church. We repented of our sins. We knocked on the door of the Church by our act of confession, where the wounds of our souls were healed with the absolution of forgiveness. We put on the garment of baptism, sealed with the oil of Chrismation, and were allowed into the Church, the body of Christ. We approached the Lord’s table to partake of the Holy Mysteries, becoming one with the Truth. We are now a living stone of the Church, the body of Christ. Our eyes are opened. Our ears are unstopped. Our tongues are loosed. It is now our responsibility to share this Truth we have received to those who would receive it. In word and in deed we must incarnate Christ in the world, for this is the way of Holiness mentioned in Isaiah chapter 35, and this is what we are called to be. We must preach the Gospel message to all mankind in both word and in deed; to all the spiritually deaf and blind who have yet to turn towards Christ amidst their clinging to the things of this world

Yet, what is the Truth? What is this Gospel message that we are so inclined to declare unto the world? We find the answer to this in our Epistle reading for today (1 Cor. 15:1-10). We hear Saint Paul making dogmatic statements which we are so familiar with, and hear every Sunday in the words of the Nicene Creed:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,” (1 Cor. 15:3-4).

We preach the resurrected Christ, for He is Risen! This is the pivotal and most important act of Christ’s ministry on earth. Even though Pascha is behind us, it is also simultaneously ever before us in the sacramental rhythm of the Church, and we must always remember the Risen Christ. We must always be willing to proclaim that He is risen, and do so with every fiber of our being, every moment of our daily lives in all that we say and do. He is risen, he who endured the death of the cross for all men, to open the gates of paradise. He is life because He is risen, trampling down death by death! He is Risen because He is God incarnate in the flesh, he who condescended to become one of us, that we may be able to become like him. If Christ had never risen from the grave, then we should never leave it. If Christ had never risen, then death would never have been defeated. If Christ had never risen, then his death upon the cross would have been in vain, and our entire Christian life an empty promise.

He died so that we may live in the presence of God. We live, so that others may die to this world and all that it may bring. We all die to the world so that we may all live in Christ. So let us speak the truth so that it may be heard. Let us incarnate the Truth, so that the Truth may be experienced; the truth may be seen; the truth may be felt; and the truth may be known. By the truth may all ears be opened, that all men may hear and know the Truth of the risen Christ, and turn towards Him to be healed of their infirmities of spirit, and to be healed of infirmities of mind, body, and soul. You were once deaf, but now you can hear. You were once mute, but now your mouth is opened to proclaim the truth. So then, we must ask ourselves, why aren’t we?

By the prayers of our holy Fathers and Mothers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy upon us and save us. Amen.

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Truth and Love

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Truth and Love – August 24th, 2019

Truth does not change. Truth is one just as God is one, for truth is a person: Jesus Christ. We are living stones that constitute the church, which is the body of Jesus Christ, He who is the truth. When we start building the Church with something other than the truth, as something other than ourselves founded in truth and holiness, then the church clearly becomes something other than the Truth. The Church is the Pillar and Foundation of that Truth, so it must embody that Truth in both word and deed; in both practice and praxis of faith; in both her prayers and her sacraments; in both beauty and holiness; in both purity and chastity of mind and body.

Truth is rigid and unchanging, without deformity of word or character. Yet, the means by which truth is conveyed, taught, expressed and known, is through the unending and unquenchable fire of God’s love. It is in this crucible of love, of which we are all partakers and participants of, that the coldness of this world melts away; the chaff of the wheat is burned to naught; the wax is softened and we are molded to the truth like potters clay. It is in love that truth is revealed, that truth takes shape in us, and that truth is known; for, God is love.

We are conformed to the Truth, molded in love. Once truth has taken shape within us, and once we have become molded to it become and an incarnation of Truth, it is by the crucibles of this world that we are tried, tested, formed, and refined. The potter’s clay is hardened into its new shape. Like in a refiner’s fire we are purified. We shall all become vessels of Truth, those who allow themselves to be subject to the fires of God’s love.

Everyone loves Truth when it is revealed about the world around them, but no one loves Truth when it is revealed about themselves. Likewise, everyone wants love to be given to them, but because love requires sacrifice on both sides, no one wants to give it in return. So, in this understanding, conformity to the truth requires sacrifice, which is perhaps why so many work so hard to make concessions with the truth, so that they may conform the truth to themselves instead. In the end, this is not love, but a hatred of the Truth, a hatred of Christ, for He is the Truth.

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Church: Hospital or Hospice?

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Church: Hospital or Hospice? – July 20, 2019

The idea of the Church as a hospital for our souls is nothing new. This was an ideation voiced by Saint John Chrysostom; an idea embodied by Saint Basil the Great; an idea echoed all throughout the writings of the Holy Fathers of our faith:

“For indeed the school of the Church is an admirable surgery – a surgery, not for bodies, but for souls. For it is spiritual, and sets right, not fleshly wounds, but errors of the mind, and of these errors and wounds the medicine is the word.”

~Saint John Chrysostom.

The idea and understanding of the Church as hospital for the soul requires a proper understanding of our humanity, but also a proper understanding of the Church. Christ is the great physician, He who came to heal the sick, the sinner, the ill and infirmed. The Church, as the body of Christ, is by extension the very Hospital of our Great Physician, Jesus Christ. The priests work as her doctors and administers of medicine, the healing salve of confession applied to the wounds of sin which we have inflicted upon ourselves, and the Eucharist as food for the soul. Towards this end, the theology of the Church is a therapeutic science. As the doctor cannot know what remedies to apply to what wounds without proper education and training, neither can the priest do likewise to the myriad spiritual wounds of sin. The Priest or spiritual director is no different in this, in the work of diagnosing those wounds, identifying the illnesses that ail us, so that the priest may apply the correct remedy. One cannot find the wounds and identify the illnesses if he does not know what to look for. The goal is holiness (wholeness) and is the direct result of our having submitted in all humility to a life of repentance, a life to which we are directed by the loving guidance of a spiritual director.

The Church is ultimately a part of the medicine for the whole human being, and is preoccupied with the fate of human beings. A humanity plagued by sinfulness, the passions of the flesh, and destructive behaviors, is an overall abnormal state of existence. The end to which all humans must go to, death, is an unnatural state from the created order, separating body from spirit. Through Christ we are given a way to purification, cleansed of our sins by repentance, confession, baptism, and continued participation in the divine nature of God, but he has also conquered death by death, that in the resurrection we may be reunited soul with body, and return to that state in which we were created, and were always intended to exist.

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This idea of Church has all but disappeared among much of the various groupings of mainline Christianity. No longer are people healed and prepared for their encounter with God. The Sacraments are gone. The doctors have been evicted. This fleshly sentiment of individuality identity taking precedent over our personhood, over the restoration of our humanity in the image and likeness of God, has all but destroyed the Christian faith. No longer are people conforming to the healing prescriptions of the Church, recognizing that we are wounded; recognizing that we are sick and fallen in our human nature; recognizing that we are all sinners. Instead, people approach God with their open wounds, because “it’s ok, I am forgiven.” Their minds never get beyond the Cross, that Christ died for the sins of all mankind, and never get to the joyousness that lies behind it. The Church has become a courtroom in some respects, a place of worship where people in wait of judgement. In other respects, instead of a hospital, it has become a hospice, where people turn towards the cross and simply wait to die. They are made to feel better through emotional appeals, like an opiate for the terminally ill to ease the pain. They are enraptured by the words they are given, not hearing the words of the Doctors who have gone before them, the Great Physician who died for them:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

~ Matthew 3:2

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

~ James 5:16

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

~ Mark 16:17

“Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the[a] covenant, which is poured out for many.”

~ Mark 14:22-25

These directives, these prescriptions given to us are not unique to the scriptures, but are echoed through the centuries and millennia of Christians who have gone before us. The Historical witness of the Christian faith paints a very clear picture as to the soul and purpose of the divine-human institution of the Church. Though, one has to enter the doors first before healing can occur.

We must identify those wounds we have inflicted upon ourselves (repent). We just receive the salve of healing, applied to those very would by our confession before God (confession). We are then baptized, cleansed of the stain of this world, by the very waters of creation the lord sanctified for us by virtue of his own baptism in the Jordan. We are then Chrismated to seal the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Properly adorned in the garments of righteousness, we approach the Lord’s table to receive that precious and eternal life giving medicine of the Eucharist.

Much of mainline and consumer Christianity simply tells and teaches us how to die. The pain of our wounds is lessened, but the wounds in many cases are not healed. It is a passivity of faith that accepts there is a cure, but then does nothing to receive it. Yet, the Christian faith is a faith of action, and should tell us how to live. The Church tells us how to live in this life and the next. The entirety of this life should be a preparation for life in the kingdom of heaven, for it is indeed at hand. It is with us now, it is among us, because we as the Church should be living our lives to incarnate Christ into the world. We do not come to Church to prepare to die as a hospice, but we come to Church as a Hospital, that we may be healed and made whole for a life eternal in Jesus Christ.

“Virtues exist in us also by nature, and the soul has affinity with them not by education, but by nature herself. We do not need lessons to hate illness, but by ourselves we repel what afflicts us, the soul has no need of a master to teach us to avoid vice. Now all vice is sickness of soul as virtue is its health.”

~ Saint Basil the Great.

Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner.

A refutation of lazy Christianity

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A refutation of lazy Christianity – July 17, 2019

Frequent is the argument made by Protestants that nothing is required of us, that our salvation is assured, and is a free gift of God. It is an extremism of Lutheranism stemming from the argument that we cannot earn our salvation, that we cannot work our way into heaven as the Pharisees tried to do. It is a generational perversion of what the reformers taught.

Many argue as follows:

“I do good works because I’m already saved. I also do good works so that others can see Christ through me and hopefully find Him. I do not do good works in order to be saved. I have already received it.”

These are the same people that also argue a salvation that cannot be lost. Yet, by that logic of argument, if you say one stops doing good works, then they are no longer saved. That is the logical conclusion. It is an asinine and contradictory argument.

It’s a garbage theology and understanding of the free gift of grace.

We repent, and that confession is the salve that brings healing to our wounds of sin. We are healed. That healing is the free gift of God, provided by the sacrifice of God the Son on the Cross, which was also freely given. Yet, for us to stand with God? We must walk in Godliness before we ever stand with God. We are freely healed, but unless we walk in Godliness afterwards, what good is being healed if you will just wound yourself again by the same means as before?

The Church is the Hospital for our souls. Yet, if you do not abide by the prescription given, how can you be healed? If you do not reach out to take what is given, how can you receive?

You can put gas in the car, but it does not drive itself.

Why would we be exhorted to work out our faith with fear and trembling if we already have what we came for? Why would we be exhorted to finish the race if we have already received the prize? No, it is foolishness to believe as they do. Theirs is an idea that came out of a broken and fractured Christianity. They have no understanding of the Church, which is evident by their poor understanding of theology.

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HOMILY: Serving in Sobriety of mind.

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Serving in Sobriety of mind – June 18, 2019

All things fall under the providence of God. All things are according to His will, and His timing. That being said, I find our lesson from first Peter (1 Peter 4:7-11) to be most fitting for us, and this very Church in our time of growth; it is fitting in our time of transition, as we move from what we were, and towards that which we can be in the fullness of God. And with that in mind, taking into consideration all that has been said, all that has been done, this passage from Peter could very well have been written to us.

Let’s work our way through that lesson for today.

“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers”

First and foremost, we need to pray. We need to be praying. I can say from my own experience that prayer is hard UNLESS you are sober minded. A sober minded person takes truth seriously; keeps the Laws of God ever before them, just as the Psalms and wisdom books exhort us to do; considers the challenges of incarnating Christ in our own lives. A sober minded person has no regard for his own way, but rather how his life may conform to God’s. Sober mindedness orients us godward, making us more capable, more ready and suitable for whatever prayers we have to offer. Above all, it is to be watchful of our own thoughts, and guarding the heart from those thoughts that seek to destroy our inner peace. (musing)

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

We all know that God is Love. Love is the key to following the whole law. Love is defined within each of us by what we do. It is not an irrational emotion that we follow simply because it feels good, because it brings as a sense of elation, but Love is something we do. Even Christ himself told us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Our Love for him is known, is proven, by what we do. Words are empty without action.

What we do as a Church is vital to the growth of virtue, and to the growth of God’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Most importantly, it is how we incarnate Christ into the world; how we as God’s people exist to be a light unto the world, incarnating Christ, and bringing light to where there is none. Yet, what we do is wholly dependant on each of us, for each is endowed with different gifts, and each is imbued with the capacity for a ministry of their own making, and according to the will of God.

“Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

I can say that we have shown our capacity for love, our genuine willingness for hospitality to those in need of it. When Father Gregory’s house burned down, there was almost no delay in this community stepping up to do what was needed. In that moment of darkness, a light shined to dispel it. So should we be to the rest of the world.

”.As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

Ministry is important to the life of the Church. As of current, we have none. Our ministries allow us to incarnate Christ into the world, to manifest the love of God and bring light to wherever it is needed. Ministry allows each of us the opportunity to not only speak our love of God, but to do it as well. The ministry of the Church, as the body of Christ, as the Hospital for our souls, allows us to go into the world and be Christ to those who have never known him; to bring a taste, a sample, of the healing which the world cannot give, and the Church provides. It is by our ministry that the love of God will be known to the world, and it is by our love for one another that the world will know Christ through us.

Each of us has the capacity and capability to use those gifts we have been given to Glory of God. Not to repeat what Paul said, but to provide a little modern context: to those who can build, build up the Church to the glory of God; to those who are artists, create things of beauty to incarnation of the beauty and glory of God; to those who can write, write truth and increase understanding; to those who can speak, speak well and truthfully to the edification of all who hear; to those gifted with the skills of administration, keep in order the business of the Church and her people; to those who serve, do so in humility; to those with the fortitude to labor, labor for one another in love, and be the strength of the body of Christ. I can go on, for the gifts and abilities of the children of God are limitless, and maybe some yet undiscovered.

As we go through a time of growth, a time of change, and this time of transformation, may we grow into the praxis of our Orthodox faith and the teachings of the Church. As we embark upon this godward journey, let us also grow into ourselves, making use of whatever gifts we have been endowed with, whether they be physical, spiritual, or material in nature. As we move towards him, may we as the body of Christ be transfigured into the children of God we were created to be.

Amen.

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Homily – An enduring faith.

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Homily – An enduring faith. – May 11th, 2019

In the Epistle reading for today, Saint Peter writes of struggle, specifically here to that of servants under their masters. He exhorts them to be mindful of God in their suffering, and endure just as Christ endured. Indeed it is a gracious thing to be mindful of God when we suffer diverse sorrows, trials, and afflictions all for the sake of our faith. Yet, it is equally gracious for those of us who suffer likewise and simply endure because of our faith. For our faith is one of endurance, as Paul writes, stating that when we endure our sufferings for doing good, it is gracious in the sight of God. We are reminded elsewhere by James as to why we do so, writing in his Epistle that the crown of everlasting life is promised to those who love him who persevere in their faith. Though, it is not suffering to which we are called, for suffering in and of itself is not a good thing; but, the fruits of our suffering are what separate us from the world. In it we are tempered like steel against the anvil, and purified like a precious metal in the refiner’s fire. Our faith is a journey of purifying transformation.

Anyone who believes, or anyone who tells you that the Orthodox Christian faith is easy, anyone who says that a life lived in the shadow of the cross is comfortable, such a person is misguided. According to Saint Theophan the recluse, “All the saints accept the only true path to virtue to be pain and hard work… lightness and ease are a sign of a false path. Anyone who is not struggling, not in podvig, is in spiritual delusion” Podvig, a Russian word understood to mean “spiritual struggle,” is often used to describe our faith, for our faith is one of struggle. Our faith is a continual struggle against ourselves, against the passions of the flesh that persist against us daily. Our struggle is against the ailments of our minds and bodies in day to day life. Also, our struggle is against the world, against daily misfortunes, against people and their wills, against a symphony of noise wholly aligned against the silence of God. Nowhere in the whole of scripture was it ever lauded that our walk of faith would be easy. To say as much is a lie propagated by those false teachers and preachers of the prosperity Gospel, men and women who say that health, wealth and prosperity can be ours in this life through Christ.

Christ left everything behind in the performance of his ministry, and told others that did likewise, “everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.” The Apostles lived austere lives, and all were martyred for their faith. The brightest lights of the Orthodox faith were the ones who sacrificed the most in the name of Christ, those who sacrificed of body, of ambition, of needs, of wealth and every worldly thing. Often when the world is at its darkest moments, the brightest lights shine through to dispel the shadows, such as those great Russian saints in Soviet Russia whom we venerate today. They have shown us that our way is not of this world, and have revealed that the greater our attachments to the things of this world, to the ambition and desires of self, the greater the sorrows of our struggle will be. The manner in which we respond to that struggle and suffering is a good barometer of our faith, and how close indeed we are to Christ in our lifelong pursuit of purification, and theotic illumination. Suffering and struggle proves the purity of the faith possessed of the faithful. It is a pure soul that meets hatred with love, injury with kindness, violence with peace, slander with silence, and insults with a smile.

How did the saints respond to their struggles within their own enduring faith? The Church recalls the response of Saint Lawrence, who was essentially grilled alive on a great gridiron over hot coals, entreated his torturers “I’m well done on this side. Turn me over!” The desert father Saint Macarius came across someone robbing his cell, so helped him load his beast of burden with his own possessions and sent him on his way, recalling to himself that “We brought nothing into this world but the Lord gave, as he willed, so it is done: blessed be the Lord in all things.” One Saint was threatened with death, and replied, “Ok, and then what will you do to me?” Abba Anthony says of those not able to bear insults, “You are like a village magnificently decorated on the outside but destroyed from within by robbers.” So it goes, on and on with examples from the hagiography of the Church. The more we are attached to the things and matters of this world, the easier sorrows find our soul.

Indeed, there are those who are murdered for their faith, their light extinguished by the very darkness they sought to enlighten, but I say they have it easy. Though they have made the ultimate and final sacrifice for their faith, they had but one choice to make. They can choose to live, clinging to the dead promises of this world, or they can choose life in Christ, and their struggle is over. They will are wreathed in the crowns of martyrdom. Though, this is not a common circumstance for most, as few will be forced to make such a sacrifice living in the relative comfort of their home.

Christ is the way, the truth, and the Life.. His is the way because He is risen, enduring the death of the cross for all men, to open the gates of paradise. He is life because He is risen, trampling down death by death! He is Risen because He is God incarnate in the flesh, he who condescended to become one of us, that we may be able to become like him. Though, while He is Risen do not forget that we are still fallen. He is Risen, but we will only rise with him through the patient and enduring struggle of our faith. Ours is a faith of action, a spiritual life that lives in friction against the world. It is in this friction, this very day to day struggle that we truly come to know ourselves and the depths of our own faith..

Ours is a vigilant faith. Ours is an enduring faith. When the darkness comes, we patiently wait for the coming dawn. When sadness finds us, we wait till joy finds us again. When chaos crashes around us, we await for the peace that the world cannot give. When the rain falls, we remember that the Lord is merciful, the Lord is just, and he rains on both the just and the unjust. Where the rain falls, the sun shines likewise, so while we recognize and remember that all things come from God, we also accept that these are not the measures of our spiritual life. Each is a test of our faith, good and bad, our struggles and successes, and each brings a suffering of its own. For we indeed were exhorted to carry our crosses daily. If Christ can carry his cross, even falling three times, on his miserable sojourn to his own death, then surely we can endure our own crosses, carrying them as we march to our eternal life.

So, as we distance ourselves from the end of Great Lent, let us not forget the gains we have made from our own struggles of faith, the ascetic practices undertaken and with which we sever our attachments to the things of this world. Such practices are our spiritual struggle through which we build up our faith and strength of spirit. Our struggles with the things of this world are the means by which that faith is tested, and in the perseverance of an enduring faith made even stronger. However, if you find yourself feeling as though you missed out, as though you failed in prayer, repentance, fasting, or any number of spiritual exercises for the building of our faith, then fear not. Great Lent will come again, and we will be reminded once again that He is risen! For, indeed our faith is an enduring faith, a journey of struggle and growth through which we grow into Christ. Even though Great Lent is behind us, our life in this world is still standing before us, so we must keep watch just as Saint John of Kronstadt exhorts us:

“Every day, hour, and minute, keep a strict watch and consider every thought, desire, and movement of the heart, every word and deed, and do not let yourself be defiled by one sinful thought, desire, or movement of the imagination, in word or deed, knowing that the Lord is the Righteous Judge Who is judging you every instant and is evaluating the inner man. Continually keep yourself pure for God.”

Faith is life. Faith is continual. Faith is enduring. Faith finds growth through struggle. We have faith because – He is risen! He is risen! He is risen! May we all live to rise with him.

Amen.